Multiple item user preference information data structure and method for providing multi-media information

ABSTRACT

A user preference information data structure which is capable of classifying and setting user&#39;s preference information regarding multimedia contents with multiple items to thereby provide users with user&#39;s request-based whole or partial multi-media information, and a method for providing multi-media information by using the user preference information data structure. The multiple item user preference information data structure for multi-media contents comprising: single item user preference information for single items related to the multi-media information; and multiple items user preference information for multiple items formed by combining the single items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a user preference information datastructure and a method for providing whole or partial multi-mediacontent using the user preference information data structure, and moreparticularly, to a user preference information data structure which iscapable of classifying and setting user's preference informationregarding multimedia contents with multiple items to thereby provideusers with user request-based whole or partial multi-media information,and a method for providing multi-media information by using the userpreference information data structure.

2. Description of the Background Art

Recently, as a digital video technique and an image/video recognitiontechnique are developed, information users can easily search videocontents or specific segments of the video content as desired.

That is, users easily understand the whole content of a video streamwithin a short time by searching only a summary version generatedaccording to user's desire, rather than viewing the whole contentrecorded in the video stream.

For this purpose, researches are being conducted for searchinginformation desired by the user more easily, for which a content-basedinformation is described to the whole or the partial segments of themulti-media stream so that the user can easily search desiredinformation using the content-based data.

The content-based data may include a producer, a director, an actor inthe whole multi-media stream or may include information related toappearance or disappearance of things in a video scene, information onwhen things happen, interval information of the stream such as arelationship between a character and happenings.

Accordingly, when the content-based data is described for themulti-media stream, the user may select a desired multi-media stream, oreasily search only a desired portion (or a segment) of the multimediastream.

The method using the content-based data will now be described.

In order to satisfy the user's request that “show me only the scene inwhich a main actor is close up in the movie Titanic”, the video browsingsystem can display only the desired scene to the user on the basis ofthe previously described content-based data regarding the multimediacontent.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,013 discloses a method in which a level is set for aviolent scene, a nude scene or a portion of appearance of an actor in amulti-media stream and a code is given for segments, to therebyconstruct a content map. With this method, the user can easily search adesired portion on the basis of the content map.

However, the method for providing multi-media contents or parts ofcontents using the content map has a problem that whenever the userwants his or her desired information, the searching condition should bedescribed by the user.

In order to solve the problem, most systems adopts a method thatautomatically recommend programs or segments of programs by combining acontent map with a use user preference information.

As shown in FIG. 5, user preference information may be stored in anon-volatile memory 501 of a terminal device 500 of the user or a serveror in a portable non-volatile memory such as a smart card. The userpreference information can be automatically learned from the usagehistory of the user.

In this manner, on the basis of the usage history user preferenceinformation can be updated or the user can directly edit his or her userpreference information to obtain his or her desired informationautomatically, thereby expressing a user preference/non-preference.

The user preference/non-preference includes a genre of information suchas a melodrama, an action movie, a horror movie, politics, news,economic news, soccer, etc, or general information items related tomulti-media content such as producer(s), production date, director(s),characters, a degree of special effects, etc.

The user conventional preference information data structure may indicatepreference or non-preference for each item (i.e., a genre ofinformation, a producer, a production date or a director, etc.), and asshown in FIG. 1, it is general to have a preference level (or a value)for each item.

The conventional user preference information data structure can berepresented as follows

Pref={(I,v): I denotes a preference item

-   -   v is user's preference value related to item I}

FIG. 1 is a table expressing user preference information in accordancewith a conventional art, in which preference/non-preference level isdifferently set for a single item field (i.e., each director, each genreor each actor, etc.) and each item.

FIG. 2 illustrates a construction of a user preference information datastructure in accordance with a conventional art. The user preferenceinformation 100 includes a plurality (0, 1, . . . , n) of item userpreference information 110. The sub-tree of the user preferenceinformation 110 includes a preference item identifier 111 for searchingmulti-media information or a partial portion of the multi-mediainformation and an item preference/non-preference level 112.

The item user preference information 110 may be formed by items of asimilar category, for example, a group (or a set) of preference items bygenres or actors. The group (or the set) may be designed to haveone-dimensional structure or a hierarchical structure.

The preference item identifier 111 includes items such as a producer, adirector or an actor of the multi-media information. The itempreference/non-preference level (or a value) 112 indicates the degree ofpreference for the preference items.

In this manner, the method recommends or provides a multi-media streamor a portion of the multi-media stream (a segment or a still image)fitting the user's taste by automatically filtering multi-media streamor its segment according to the user's preference.

However, generally, as a data format in very diverse types, and further,the content of the multi-media information also includes various genres,there are great number of items to describe the user preferenceinformation.

Accordingly, the conventional user preference information data structureformed merely with the single item and a corresponding userpreference/non-preference level. But, multi-media information providingmethod by using the data structure of the conventional art isunsatisfactory in the aspect that since the information desired by theuser is expressed merely by the single item and its correspondingpreference item level, it can not fully express the user preference.

For example, in case where the user has a high preference level for eachof preference item ‘A’ and ‘B’ while he or she does not prefer thecontent that ‘A’ and ‘B’ appear together at the same time, the userpreference expressing method for the single item in accordance with theconventional art fails to fully express the user preference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a datastructure for describing multiple item user preference information datastructure which is capable of classifying and setting user's preferenceinformation regarding multimedia content with multiple items to therebyprovide users with user request-based whole or partial multi-mediainformation, and a method for providing multi-media information by usingthe user preference information data structure.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a multiple item user preference information datastructure for multi-media contents provided from an information providerto an information user, including single item user preferenceinformation for single items related to the multi-media contents; andmultiple items user preference information for multiple items formed bycombining the multiple items and assigning single preference value(level).

In order to achieve the above object, there is also provided a methodfor providing multi-media information using the multiple item userpreference information data structure to provide a multi-media contentsdesired by users, including the steps of: setting user preferenceinformation for the multi-media contents; searching the multi-mediacontents according to the user preference information; and providingusers with multi-media contents according to the searching result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a table expressing user preference information in accordancewith a conventional art;

FIG. 2 illustrates a construction of a user preference information datastructure in accordance with a conventional art;

FIG. 3 illustrates a construction of a user preference information datastructure in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a table expressing user preference information in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a device storing user preference information of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

In order to filter and search multi-media contents, the presented datastructure for describing user's preference information permits assigninga single preference value (level) to the combinations of multiple userspreference items, so as to provide the data structure for describing theuser preference level for the multiple items and the method forproviding the multi-media information by using the data structure.

The presented user preference information data structure can berepresented as follows

Pref={(L,v): L denotes the list of single preference items

-   -   v is user's preference value for combinations    -   of preference items in list L}

FIG. 3 illustrates a construction of a user preference information datastructure in accordance with the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, a sub-tree of the user preference information200 includes a plurality (0, 1, . . . , n) of single item userpreference information 210 and a plurality (0, 1, . . . , n) of multipleitems user preference information 220. A sub-tree of the single itemuser preference information 210 includes a user preference itemidentifier 211 and an item user preference 212 corresponding to the userpreference item identifier. A sub-tree of the multiple items userpreference information 220 includes a plurality (2, 3, . . . , n) ofmultiple items identifiers 221 and an item user preference level 222corresponding to the multiple items identifier.

In this respect, in the sub-trees of the single item user preferenceinformation 210 and the multiple items user preference information 220,items in the similar condition form a group (or a set), which will nowbe described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a table expressing user preference information in accordancewith the present invention, which includes a user preference itemidentifier field indicating single items and multiple items and a userpreference/non-preference level field indicating the degree of the userpreference for each item.

The single items are divided into single item identifiers and its userpreference levels such as a director ‘A’. The multiple items are dividedinto several multiple items consisting of a direction ‘A’, a director‘B’, a genre ‘A’ and a genre ‘B’ (i.e., the director ‘A’ and the genre‘A’, the director ‘A’, the genre ‘B’, the director ‘B’ and the genre ‘A’and the director ‘B’ and the genre ‘B’) and its user preference level.

Meanwhile, likewise in the conventional art, the user preferenceinformation may be changed using a user's access pattern or explicitlyedited by the user.

That is, the user can give different weight value for the single itemsand the multiple items, so that user preference information suiting theuser's taste can be set and thus more accurate information can beobtained.

Generally, the user preference information data structure which permitsmultiple items preference is able to provide more accurate informationto users than the user preference permits only the single itempreference. Therefore, the user preference data structure of presentinvention can produce more precise result than that of conventional artand the multimedia information or a portion of the multi-mediainformation provided according to the user preference.

Therefore, by taking the method for providing multi-media information byusing the data structure including the multiple items, users can receivemore accurate information of desired contents automatically.

With reference to FIG. 4, the merit of the user preference informationincluding the multiple items will now be described in detail.

As show in the drawing, it is noted that the user has a tendency(indicated by ‘H2’) to prefer a movie directed by a director ‘B’, amovie belonging to a genre ‘B’ and a movie in which an actor ‘A’ plays,and has a tendency (indicated by ‘H1’) not to prefer a movie directed bya director ‘A’, a movie belonging to a genre ‘A’ and a movie in which anactor ‘B’.

If the user preference information is expressed only with the singleitem for the user preference/non-preference according to theconventional art, it is inferred that the user would prefer a movie(indicated by ‘H4’) that belongs to the genre ‘B’ and the actor ‘A’plays to a movie (indicated by ‘H3’) that belongs to the genre ‘B’ andthe actor ‘B’ plays. But it may not be true.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in case that the user preferenceinformation is expressed by using the multiple items and itscorresponding user preference/non-preference level, it is resulted inthat the user prefers the movie (P2=H3) that belongs to the genre ‘B’and the actor ‘B’ plays to the movie (P1=H4) that belongs to the genre‘B’ and the actor ‘A’ plays.

Consequently, the user preference information can be more accuratelyrecommended or provided by using the multiple items.

Though the multiple items are increased in number as the number of thesingle item is increased, since only the substantially critical multipleitems or multiple items desired by the user are stored, and when thesingle items are combined to generate multiple items, some multipleitems that could be hardly combined are excluded from storing, so thatthe memory of the system can be effectively managed.

Also, by allocating a weight value for the single items and the multipleitems, the multi-media information desired by the user can be rapidlyfiltered and searched according to the order of priority.

As so far described, according to the multiple item user preferenceinformation data structure of a user profile and the multi-mediacontents filtering/searching method using the data structure of thepresent invention, user preference items are divided into the singleitems and multiple items consisting of the combination of the singleitems, and the user preference/non-preference information is describedfor the single items and for the multiple items, so that more accuratemulti-media information suiting the user's taste can be used forrecommending or providing to the information user.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A method implemented by a data processing apparatus for describinguser preferences, the method comprising: storing a multiple levelhierarchical data structure for describing user preferences related tofiltering and searching multimedia content, the hierarchical datastructure having a tree structure in which a top container includesfirst and second parent preference objects at a first level in the treestructure, wherein the first parent preference object is a containerhaving a plurality of child preference objects and the second parentpreference object is a container having a single child preferenceobject, the single child preference object and each child preferenceobject in the plurality of child preference objects being located belowthe first level in the tree structure of the hierarchical data structureand representing one content description element describing multimediacontent; assigning a first preference value to the first parentpreference object to characterize user preference for the particularcombination of the content description elements represented by theplurality of child preference objects; assigning a second preferencevalue to the second parent preference object to characterize userpreference for the content description element represented by the singlechild preference object; storing the first and second preference valuesin the first and second parent preference objects, respectively, in thehierarchical data structure for describing user preferences related tofiltering and searching multimedia content; receiving contentdescription information including a set of content description elementsfor a multimedia content stream, wherein the content descriptionelements represented by the plurality of child preference objects of thefirst parent preference object form a subset of the set of contentdescription elements for the multimedia content stream; and using thecontent description information and the hierarchical data structure withthe first preference value to evaluate the multimedia content stream forsearching and filtering.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein one or moreof the content description elements identify a genre, a director or anactor.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the first and secondpreference values to the first and second parent preference objects,respectively, includes assigning the first or second preference valuebased on a user's access pattern to multimedia content.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein assigning the first and second preference values to thefirst and second parent preference objects, respectively, includesassigning the first or second preference value based on user input. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein storing the hierarchical data structureincludes generating a user profile that includes the hierarchical datastructure and specifies the first and second preference values for thefirst and second parent preference objects, respectively.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein generating the user profile includes designating thehierarchical data structure to be used in searching or filteringmultimedia content.
 7. A software product, tangibly embodied in amachine readable storage medium, for describing user preferences, thesoftware product comprising instructions to cause data processingapparatus to perform operations comprising: storing a multiple levelhierarchical data structure for describing user preferences related tofiltering and searching multimedia content, the hierarchical datastructure having a tree structure in which a top container includesfirst and second parent preference objects at a first level in the treestructure, wherein the first parent preference object is a containerhaving a plurality of child preference objects and the second parentpreference object is a container having a single child preferenceobject, the single child preference object and each child preferenceobject in the plurality of child preference objects being located belowthe first level in the tree structure of the hierarchical data structureand representing one content description element describing multimediacontent; assigning a first preference value to the first parentpreference object to characterize user preference for the particularcombination of the content description elements represented by theplurality of child preference objects; assigning a second preferencevalue to the second parent preference object to characterize userpreference for the content description element represented by the singlechild preference object; storing the first and second preference valuesin the first and second parent preference objects respectively, in thehierarchical data structure for describing user preferences related tofiltering and searching multimedia content; receiving contentdescription information including a set of content description elementsfor a multimedia content stream, wherein the content descriptionelements represented by the plurality of child preference objects of thefirst parent preference object form a subset of the set of contentdescription elements for the multimedia content stream; and using thecontent description information and the hierarchical data structure withthe first preference value to evaluate the multimedia content stream forsearching and filtering.
 8. The software product of claim 7, wherein oneor more of the content description elements identify a genre, a directoror an actor.
 9. The software product of claim 7, wherein assigning thefirst and second preference values to the first and second parentpreference objects, respectively, includes assigning the first or secondpreference value based on a user's access pattern to multimedia content.10. The software product of claim 7, wherein assigning the first andsecond preference values to the first and second parent preferenceobjects, respectively, includes assigning the first or second preferencevalue based on user input.
 11. The software product of claim 7, whereinstoring the hierarchical data structure includes generating a userprofile that includes the hierarchical data structure and specifies thefirst and second preference values for the first and second parentpreference objects, respectively.
 12. The software product of claim 11,wherein generating the user profile includes designating thehierarchical data structure to be used in searching or filteringmultimedia content.
 13. A method implemented by a data processingapparatus for processing user preferences, the method comprising:generating a user profile that includes a hierarchical data structurefor describing user preferences related to filtering and searchingmultimedia content, the hierarchical data structure having a treestructure that includes a parent preference object and a plurality ofchild preference objects, wherein the parent preference object is acontainer for a subset of the child preference objects in the treestructure of the hierarchical data structure, and each child preferenceobject represents a single content description element describingmultimedia content; assigning a first preference value to the parentpreference object to characterize user preference for the particularcombination of the content description elements represented by thesubset of child preference objects; assigning a respective preferencevalue to each of two or more in the plurality of child preferenceobjects to characterize user preference for the single contentdescription element represented by that child preference object;receiving content description information including a set of contentdescription elements for a multimedia content stream, wherein thecontent description elements represented by the subset of childpreference objects form a subset of the set of content descriptionelements for the multimedia content stream; and using the contentdescription information and the hierarchical data structure with thefirst preference value to evaluate the multimedia content stream forsearching and filtering.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisingstoring the user profile with the assigned preference values.
 15. Asoftware product, tangibly embodied in a machine readable storagemedium, for describing user preferences, the software product comprisinginstructions to cause data processing apparatus to perform operationscomprising: generating a user profile that includes a hierarchical datastructure for describing user preferences related to filtering andsearching multimedia content, the hierarchical data structure having atree structure that includes a parent preference object and a pluralityof child preference objects, wherein the parent preference object is acontainer for a subset of the child preference objects in the treestructure of the hierarchical data structure, and each child preferenceobject represents a single content description element describingmultimedia content; assigning a first preference value to the parentpreference object to characterize user preference for the particularcombination of the content description elements represented by thesubset of child preference objects; assigning a respective preferencevalue to each of two or more in the plurality of child preferenceobjects to characterize user preference for the single contentdescription element represented by that child preference object;receiving content description information including a set of contentdescription elements for a multimedia content stream, wherein thecontent description elements represented by the subset of childpreference objects form a subset of the set of content descriptionelements for the multimedia content stream; and using the contentdescription information and the hierarchical data structure with thefirst preference value to evaluate the multimedia content stream forsearching and filtering.
 16. The software product of claim 15, furthercomprising instructions to cause data processing apparatus to performoperations comprising: storing the user profile with the assignedpreference values.